Tang Shaofu Bai Public Temple

Tang Shaofu Bai Public Temple

The Tang Shaofu Bai Public Temple is a cultural tourism attraction.

Suzhou built the Seven-Mile Shantang Canal in honor of the great Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi. During the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty, the Tang Shaofu Bai Public Temple was constructed along Shantang Street but was later destroyed during the Taiping Rebellion. The Bai Juyi Memorial Hall, built in 2006 near Duseng Bridge, became the first attraction for visitors entering Shantang. To help tourists better understand Bai Juyi’s connection to Shantang and even Suzhou, and to enhance the tourism value of the memorial hall, relevant departments rearranged the original exhibits: they added an introduction to Bai Juyi’s life and depicted scenes from his life in Shantang and Suzhou through a series of stone-carved storyboards. “Retaining the old name of Tang Shaofu Bai Public Temple more fully reflects the life of Bai Juyi, making it a must-see for visitors who come here specifically to learn about him.”

Bai Juyi (772–846), a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, also known as Letian, and in his later years as the Hermit of Xiangshan, was born in 772 in Gong County (present-day Gongyi, Henan) during the seventh year of the Dali era of Emperor Daizong of Tang. His ancestral home was in Taiyuan, Shanxi, and some historians suggest his ancestors were from Kucha, later moving to Xiazhai (present-day northeast Weinan, Shaanxi). He passed away in the sixth year of the Huichang era of Emperor Wuzong.

In his youth, Bai Juyi came from a poor family and had extensive exposure to social life and the sufferings of ordinary people. He passed the imperial examination in the Zhenyuan era and served as a proofreader in the Palace Library. During the Yuanhe era, he held positions such as Left Remonstrance Official and Scholar of the Office of Imperial Instruction. Later, he offended the powerful by submitting a petition demanding severe punishment for the assassins of Chancellor Wu Yuanheng and was demoted to the position of Prefectural Registrar of Jiangzhou. During the Changqing era (821–824), he served as Prefect of Hangzhou, and in 825, the second year of the Baoli era, he was transferred to be Prefect of Suzhou. He later became the Crown Prince’s Junior Preceptor but, refusing to align with political factions, claimed illness and was assigned to the Eastern Capital. In 842, the second year of the Huichang era, he retired with the title of Minister of Justice and eventually passed away at the Xiangshan Temple in Luoyang. Bai Juyi was known for his incisive prose and exceptional poetry, writing in a simple and accessible style that even elderly women could understand. He was a leading figure in the New Yuefu Movement. In his later years, he indulged in poetry and wine, earning the nickname “Drunken Reciter.” Initially, he exchanged poems with Yuan Zhen and was known as “Yuan-Bai,” and later in life, he frequently collaborated with Liu Yuxi, leading to the nickname “Liu-Bai.” He was honored with the title “Poetry Devil.”

In the first year of the Baoli era of the Tang Dynasty (825), Bai Juyi was appointed Prefect of Suzhou. Shortly after taking office, he visited Tiger Hill by sedan chair and noticed that nearby waterways were silted up, disrupting water transport. Upon returning to his office, he immediately consulted with local officials and decided to dig a canal around Tiger Hill and construct a road. The project involved excavating the Shantang River, which stretches approximately 3,600 meters from near Duseng Bridge at Changmen in the east to Wangshan Bridge at Tiger Hill in the west, hence the popular name “Seven-Mile Shantang to Tiger Hill.” This river connected Changmen to the Grand Canal. Along the canal, an embankment was built, forming Shantang Street. The digging of the Shantang River and the construction of Shantang Street greatly improved irrigation and transportation, transforming the area into a bustling hub of commerce. The people of Suzhou were deeply grateful to Bai Juyi, and after he left office, they referred to Shantang Street as Bai Gong Embankment and built the Bai Gong Temple in his memory.

Bai Juyi (772–846), a renowned realist poet of the Tang Dynasty, also known as Letian and the Hermit of Xiangshan, was originally of Kucha descent, with ancestral roots in Taiyuan (present-day Taiyuan, Shanxi) and later relocated to Xiazhai (present-day Weinan, Shaanxi). He was born in Xinzhen County, Henan. His father, who served as a Deputy Transport Commissioner in Xiangzhou, died when Bai Juyi was young. Bai Juyi was exceptionally intelligent in his childhood and began studying poetry at the age of five or six. At ten, several military governors in Hebei and Huainan launched rebellions, sparking sudden warfare. To protect her son, Bai Juyi’s mother sent him to present-day Zhejiang to seek refuge, and thus he left his hometown with her, wandering through the south of the Yangtze... More detailed information on Bai Juyi++